Dr. Shawn T. Smith is a clinical psychologist based in Denver, Colorado. He's also the author of one of the most important books I've read over the past year. The Tactical Guide to Women: How Men Can Manage Risk in Dating and Marriage is a comprehensive examination of the potential risks of marrying the wrong woman, and how unmarried men can determine whether or not a potential partner is a good choice for marriage. More than that, it's a solid overview of what makes a good long-term … [Read more...]
Everyday Joy in Medellín
I live in the top floor penthouse of an apartment building in the neighbourhood of El Poblado in Medellín, Colombia. It doesn’t feel quite as exotic or grandiose as it might sound, but it is beautiful. I am surrounded by mountains covered in green, and after it rains, which it did this afternoon, it smells as if everything is clean and new and blooming for the first time. The night I arrived in this city a few months ago, I attended one of the most intense parties of my life. I began … [Read more...]
On the Necessity of Giving Your Gift
What brings you the most joy and satisfaction? What do you do that gives you the most pleasure? What is your heart moved to give? What are your hands compelled to produce? I believe that everyone has a unique gift, but I don’t mean it in the bestowed-from-on-high sense of the term “gift.” God doesn’t enter into what I’m writing about now. I mean your gift — I mean something that is deep within you that you are instinctively moved to share with the world. I mean your contribution. I mean … [Read more...]
Information Overload is Drowning Out My Muse
I wonder how many times we've missed our muse. I wonder how many brilliant songs, books, films, symphonies, businesses, inventions, everything we've missed out on on account of our wiling away the hours in front of screens. In our hands, on our desk, mounted on the wall. Consuming. All day. Every day. I spend far too much of my life in front of screens, one in particular. A number of months ago I installed a nifty-little program on my computer called "RescueTime." This handy little … [Read more...]
What George Harrison Taught Me About Becoming a Better Man
George Harrison wrote and recorded some of the most powerful and spiritually-illuminating songs in the history of popular music. He was also the lead guitarist in the world's greatest, most celebrated, and commercially successful rock band, though in later years this became less interesting to him than seeking to know god. George Harrison was rock royalty by the time he turned 21. Dubbed "the quiet Beatle" by a characteristically simplistic press, George was only "quiet" because, as he put … [Read more...]